First-generation Mayan American Mario Ordoñez Calderon used two wheels, and everything he could load onto them, to travel back through time.
“You are the strength of your ancestors and the wisdom of the ancient world,” a woman’s gentle voice narrates, teasing the adventure to unfold in the short film, “Cycle of Ancestry.”
Through surfing, trekking, and cycling, Mario Ordoñez Calderon unplugs from the daily distractions of the world to, as he puts it, find clues in the elements. Those clues pointed him toward a path — a pilgrimage — for the Los Angeles-born Mayan American to find his roots.
On his pedal-powered journey to the roots of his heritage, more than 1,000 miles away on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, Ordoñez Calderon gradually leaves behind the trappings of modern life in the U.S. and rediscovers the people, traditions, and environs of his distant family.
Read more about his epic trek on Bikepacking.com.
